Motorcyclist, passenger suffer broken legs in Machias accident

MACHIAS, Maine — A New Hampshire man and his passenger each suffered broken legs Sunday when their motorcycle was struck by a car at a downtown intersection, according to the local police chief.

Fay Woodward, 74, of Sunapee, N.H., was driving his 2010 Harley-Davidson motorcycle north on Route 192 around 4 p.m. when he ran a stop sign at the road’s intersection with Court Street, Police Chief Grady Dwelley said late Monday afternoon.

The motorcycle was struck in the intersection by a 1996 Ford Taurus driven by Doreen Snider, 55, of Machias, the chief said. Woodward and his passenger, Norma J. Richards, 76, of Dover-Foxcroft, took the brunt of the impact when they were hit by the car, he said.

Both Woodward and Richards suffered broken legs in the collision while Snider was unharmed. The motorcycle was “remarkably intact” after the accident, Dwelley said, though it had approximately $1,000 in damage. The car had a crack in its front fiberglass bumper, which Dwelley said also likely would cost $1,000 to fix.

Woodward and Richards were taken to Down East Community Hospital in Machias for treatment after the collision, the chief said. Richards later was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor for additional treatment of her broken leg bones, he said.

Dwelley said that there have been at least three accidents at that same intersection this summer, but he said that driver inattention and unfamiliarity have been considered the main contributing factors in those collisions.